Running from life and into each other
by King Toothless 3
Summary: It seems that Astrid has it all. But is all what it seems? Meanwhile, Hiccup tries to get to grips with his new reality.
1. First encounter

**Running from life and into each other**

 **First of all, if you want something that's fantastic, check out the Chasing Thunderstorms series. Just have too say that because this is inspired by it, but feel free to say I copied it. Ideas for characters and personalities are gratefully accepted. I've just had something like this stuck in my head for ages.**

 **This is set in England, so if anything seems weird, you're probably not from here. The reason this is set in England: I live in England so I pretty much know how the whole school thing works.**

* * *

Jennifer 'Astrid' Hofferson was standing outside of her best friends house. She was a very pretty girl. She was about 15 years old, blonde with blue, fiery eyes. Although her hair was tied up in a ponytail, a few stray hairs hid her left eye from view. She had a slim figure. She wore her Berk school uniform which consisted of a red and black tie, yellow polo shirt, grey skirt, knee high socks, plain black shoes and a blazer with the Burk crest emblazoned on the breast pocket; a viking helmet in front of two crossed axes. The friend in question happened to be none other than Harmony 'Ruffnut' Thorston. Who was running late. As per usual.

"Come on Ruff, we're going too be late again." Astrid repeated for the seventh time. Her voice was rough but still had an attractive female quality. "For the hundredth time, I'm almost ready" Ruff drawled back as a response. Astrid crossed her arms and lent against the door frame. She started thinking about nicknames, and how hers made no sense. At least Ruff is...well, rough enough for hers, but she doesn't even understand Astrid. When she asked people just shrugged and mumbled something about it being cool. That's what their school is known for. Not mumbling, the nickname thing. Everyone has a nickname.

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing a skinny girl, the same age as Astrid, slightly taller, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was wearing the same as Astrid, except she was wearing trousers instead of a skirt. The girl rubbed her eyes and yawned. "What's the rush anyway? Want to go see your lover?" Ruff asked mockingly, pouting like a sad puppy. Astrid scoffed and knocked Ruff in the arm, "Hardy har, very funny. Now come on, we're gonna be late." She knew exactly who Ruff was talking about. Ryan 'Snotlout' Yorgenson was one of the schools "studs" and also very popular. He was obsessed with Astrid since they had first arrived.

"Seriously though" said Ruff, pulling Astrid out of her reverie of thought, "you don't usually care about being late. What's up?" Astrid sighed, "Well, if you must know, my Step-dad threatened to cancel my kickboxing license if I stepped out of line again. And, trust me, he's very...controlling." Astrid finished. She was very passionate about kickboxing, and had been to a few competitions (and by a few, we're talking about hundreds). She was now a second dan black belt.

"Well then, we had better up then shouldn't we?" Ruff said, picking up speed "Hey, last one there has to do the others homework for a month." she shouted as she broke into a run. "Hey, no fair, illegal head start." Astrid yelled, also breaking into a run.

* * *

Andrew 'Hiccup' Haddock was a skinny boy, with green eyes and brown hair. He was 16 and about 5"6'. He was walking to school. By himself. Again. He wasn't exactly a popular kid, so didn't have many friends. His only friend was Jeremy 'Fishlegs' Ingerman, but he was otherwise engaged. Dressed in his Berk school uniform, he was walking towards the school, which was quite far away.

He used this time to think. He usually thought about new contraptions, designs and other brainy stuff like equations. This was probably why he wasn't popular. The fact that he didn't talk also didn't help much. But sometimes his thoughts would stray to his crush: Astrid. He knew it could never work; he didn't even know her real name. But she just looked great. It also didn't hurt that she was second only to him when it came to being the smartest. That's the only reason people noticed him, because he was smarter then the famous Astrid.

He looked down at his watch and realized it was 8:30. _Crap_ Hiccup thought to himself _I've only got 15 minutes to get there._ As soon as he began to walk, he heard someone shoat "At least try and keep up." and then something ran into him. He stumbled, but was able to regain his balance. Just as he was about to question what had happened, he heard rushing footsteps behind him, and turned just in time to get knocked over by none other then Astrid, causing them to fall over, Astrid laying on top of Hiccup.

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 **So, that was the first chapter. I'm sorry if it was a bit short, but It's just to introduce the main characters. I promise that all the other chapters will be longer.**

 **If you have any suggestions for character personalities for Snotlout and Fishlegs, please let me know. And I think that Tuffnut will be introduced shortly.**


	2. School stuff

**Hiccup+Astrid high school romance**

 **Hey guys. Just a quick thing before we continue. I just wanted to say thank you for the support so far and I'll try and make these chapters as quickly as possible. That being said, I'll try and upload a new chapter every 3-4 days, so that you can read up on the story so far.**

 **Also, a side note to all who are wondering; I do kickboxing as a hobby, so I know how it all works. If you have any questions about it, just ask and I'll get back to you.**

* * *

Hiccup couldn't believe it. Astrid, THE Astrid, was on top of him. _This must be a dream_ he thought to himself. Just as Hiccup was trying to find a reasonable explanation for his 'luck', Astrid stood up and dusted herself down. She then glared at what had gotten in her way. "What the hell do you think your doing?!" Astrid all but shouted at him. She couldn't believe the nerve of this scrawny kid. Who did he think he was?

The boy got up, mumbling to himself. "What did you just say?" Astrid asked, furious. The boy jumped, as if he had forgotten that he had just knocked her over. "S-Sorry." was the boy's only response, looking at the ground as if there was something interesting on it. Astrid was about to yell again when she heard Ruff yell "Come on Hofferson, I thought you were fast." With that, Astrid sprinted away.

She could see Ruff now, but she could also see the school gates. Unfortunately, Ruff was standing by the gates. "Well well well, looks like you've got a months work of extra homework." Ruff chuckled to herself. Astrid pouted. "No fair, some dork knocked me over, it doesn't count." Astrid crossed her arms. "Hey, that's not my problem." Ruff stated matter-of-factly.

Astrid rolled her eyes at her friend, knowing she couldn't win this argument. The bell rang just as they were walking down the slope. "Hey, what about your brother? Is he skipping school again?" Astrid asked. "Nah, he just left early so he could walk with your lover." Ruff smirked at Astrid. Astrid glared at her "I wish you'd stop saying that, I don't even like him."

Just as they entered the building, two people exited the toilets. One of them was like Ruff. If Ruff was a boy. And taller. This was Harold 'Tuffnut' Thorston. Next to him was a slightly taller, more beefy boy, with brown hair and hazel eyes. This just happened to be Ryan Snotlout, or Snotty as some people called him. Ryan looked over at the two girls. He just glanced over Ruff, but his gaze fixed on Astrid. He gave her a toothy smile (imagine Flynn Rider, only 15) and moved in. "Hello darling, how are you today."

Astrid placed a hand over his face and pushed him away, causing him to trip and fall over. "I'm fine snotty, but I would like to get to my form, so if you will excuse us." and with that, Ruff and Astrid stepped over Ryan, who was still rubbing his head. "Hey Tuff." Astrid greeted Ruff's brother, then proceeded to walk up the stairs. At the first floor, Ruff started making her way to her form. "This is so unfair. Why do you get first floor and I get top floor?" Astrid asked her friend. Ruff smirked at her friend "Pot luck." She replied before walking down the hall. Astrid snorted and made her way upstairs.

She just managed to get into form before the late bell rang. "Just in time, aren't ya lassie?" said the form tutor. He was quite fat, with two prosthetics; one arm and one leg. He had a blonde handlebar mustache, and was bald. "Sorry Gobber, just got held up." Astrid said, a little out of breathe. "I didn't say you were late, did I? Go on, take yer seat." Astrid nodded, moving too sit down.

Just as Astrid sat down, Gobber turned on the projector. He was about to start talking about their task as the door opened. Astrid looked up. She was usually the last one in, so she was curious to see who was late. It looked like everyone else was already in their seats. Then, she saw him. The same kid who had knocked her over. What was he doing here? He didn't belong here. Maybe he had a message for one of them? Or had gotten lost? Or was-"Hiccup? I thought you were ill, your not usually late." Gobber said too the boy. "Sorry Gobber, just a little late out of the house I guess." the boy said. Gobber sighed. "Well, go and take your seat so I can tell everyone the task for this mornin'," Gobber said.

Astrid watched as the boy went and sat down two tables in front of her. How had she not noticed? This scrawny kid, who had knocked her over, sat two tables in front of her and she didn't even remember him. Well, she would give him a piece of her mind.

* * *

Hiccup stood up, dusting himself down. He was still trying to figure out what had happened. He could hear something behind him, but was too busy talking to himself. "Did that really just happen? Actually, what happened?" He was pulled out of his head by Astrid yelling at him. "What did you just say?" Hiccup jumped about three feet, turning to face a furious looking Astrid. It looked like she was going to tear him limb from limb.

"S-Sorry" he managed to stutter. He glanced up and it looked like she was about to say something else when her friend called back to her. Astrid shoved past him, eager to catch her friend. Hiccup stayed in place, rooted to the spot, dazed by what had just happened. Suddenly, he fell to the ground. He pulled out an inhaler and took a puff. He started to calm down. That whole thing had disrupted his breathing.

He stayed on the ground a moment longer, trying to think. In the distance a bell went off. It took a second for Hiccup to realize what it was, but when he did, he started rushing. _Oh crap, I'm gonna be late._ As he got into the building, he saw Ryan and Tuff. For whatever reason, Ryan was on the floor, rubbing his head whilst Tuff was laughing at him. Hiccup managed to get past without much trouble, and started making his way upstairs.

As he reached the first floor, the late bell rang. "Shit." He muttered to himself "So much for a clean record." He meandered the rest of the way. As he made his way into form, he could see Gobber about to set the task. "Hiccup? I thought you were ill, your not usually late." Gobber said to him as he entered. Out of the corner of his eye, he could of sworn that Astrid was staring at him.

"Sorry Gobber, just a little late out of the house I guess." Hiccup responded. Yep, she was defiantly looking at him. Was that good? Gobber sighed. "Well, go and take your seat so I can tell everyone the task for this mornin',"Hiccup walked over to his seat, still aware of Astrid looking at him.

The task was pretty easy, Hiccup was able to blitz through it. The bell rang for first period (English) so he picked up his bag and left before anyone else had even stood up. He was just about to start down the corridor when he was shoved and put into an empty classroom. He was then pinned to the wall by Astrid. Before he could say anything, she whispered to him "Listen, I don't care who you are, or what your problem is, got it? Just stay out of my way or I will destroy you." And without another word, she left Hiccup, once again dazed by Astrid.

* * *

 **So, that happened. Looks like Hiccup's in some major trouble. If only they could stop running into each other. But I think that they're gonna have to put aside their differences. But you'll have to wait for that.**

 **Again, thank you for the support, and try thinking of some better titles. I'll give the person who comes up with the best one a shout out in the next chapter. Also, I think we'll be seeing Fishlegs in the next few chapters.**


	3. Unwelcome thoughts

**Hiccup+Astrid high school romance**

 **Sorry for the long wait guys. And I know it was a REALLY long wait. Just been going through some personal things as well as having writers block. I've also got a new setup that makes writing difficult, as well as having no idea for where this is going. Because of all this, I've decided to keep uploads between one chapter every fortnight and one month(or year, cause I'm a terrible person :( ), just to take off the stress and make this story better instead of rushing it.**

 **That said, I think it's time to get on with the story.**

* * *

Astrid was striding down the halls, aware of everyone looking at her. She was used to it, of course, but the looks were different. Fearful, maybe? She was trying to figure out why when she saw her reflection in a piece of glass. She looked livid. And, now that she thought about it, she felt furious too. _Must be because of that dumb kid._ she thought to herself. She shook her head and put on a smile nonetheless. As far as she was concerned, he didn't exist. She walked into her English class and sat down next to the guy who was put next to her. What was his name? John? Tim? As far as she knew, everyone just called him Fishlegs, due to the fact that his colossal torso made his legs look tiny.

Everyone filed into the classroom, taking their seats. It was English, and early, so people either looked dead, like they were about to die, or were just doodling on pieces of paper. Even though this was top set, people still bored of English quickly. Including Astrid. She just spaced out and thought to herself about random things. People filed into the room and started talking to their friends. Although Astrid was considered popular, the only real friend she had was Ruff. Sure, other people hung out with them, but they weren't really her friends, just...people.

"Good morning class." This sudden voice brought Astrid back to Earth. At the front of the class was a fairly tall guy with a huge mustache and bald head. He had a faintly Scottish accent. "I am your substitute teacher, Mr. Henderson. Now, I may be a substitute teacher, but you should still treat me with the same amount as respect as Mrs. Stevens." Silence. "Or any other teacher." Silence. "Moving on, Mrs. Stevens informed me of an assignment on," he looks at a pile of papers on the desk next to him "'Unseen poems: annotation' to be done over the weekend. She asked me to collect everyone's work and to provide anyone who hasn't done it with a detention in which to do it. I will take in the work now."

The entire class groaned. Most people sluggishly went through their bags, searching for their pollypocket containing their work. The few who didn't either already had it out or were trying to annotate their poem as quickly as possible. Or didn't care. Astrid searched through her bag for about thirty seconds before finding her fully annotated poem, _Dragon of the Cloak._ She didn't really care about what it was saying, it was just to long for her to concentrate on. Although even she had to admit that the poem was interesting in it's own respect.

The first few minutes passed with Mr. Henderson going around, collecting everyone's poems, occasionally stopping longer to give out a detention slip to those who, in Astrid's opinion, were either too lazy or too stupid to get the work done.

Mr. Henderson finished collecting poems and stacked them all on the front desk. "Right, now that's out of the way, I believe that you are supposed to have brought your own novels to study as per Mrs. Stevens' prior assignment, am I correct? If you do not have your own, raise your hand. I have been instructed to issue conduct slips and provide copies of,"he looks at a piece of paper "Lord of the Flies." A couple of hands are raised. "Right. Those of you who have a book, get them out and start reading. You two, come here and get one."

Astrid reaches into her bag and retrieves her favourite book, City of Bones . She had read it several times already, along with the other books in the series, and yet still couldn't resist it. Perhaps it was the story, maybe it was the characters, all Astrid knew was that she adored this book. She was compelled to think it was because of the female protagonist of the book. Something about being average for so many years, then being thrust into a far more interesting world with magic and demons intrigued Astrid.

She got lost in her own world, a world filled with strong female warriors, angels and demons, confused family ties and...the guy she ran into? No, wait, he ran into her didn't he? Yeah, she was sure she-HE did. Astrid shook her head violently, trying to clear her mind. Why would she be thinking about him? She shook her head again and tried to return to her book.

* * *

Astrid stood at the back of her Math classroom. Apparently, their Math teacher, who also happened to be her form tutor, only known as Gobber, had decided to it was time for a new seating plan. He had made it a typical boy-girl seating plan based on their test scores their previous term. He was nearing the back of the room now, leaving a few people to be seated.

"Okay then, on this table we have Isabel and David." Gobber spoke in a very thick Scottish accent, as did a majority of the adults for some strange reason. Two people took their places at the indicated table. "On this table we have Nathaniel and Bethany." Only a girl sat down at the table. "Where's Nathan?" "He's ill sir." "Ill? On the first day back? I highly doubt it. Regardless, on the next table are Jennifer and Hiccup."

Astrid slouched over to her indicated table. She threw her bag under the table and immediately put her head in her crossed arms on the table. _Hiccup? First off, why am I being put next to someone who has the nickname Hiccup? Secondly, why would a teacher use a students nickname in class?_ Whilst she was pondering this, Astrid heard someone sit next to her, presumably this 'Hiccup' guy. She moved her head to the side slightly to see who it was and was surprised to find the guy she had bumped into.

* * *

 **Hey guys. Sorry for the long break, I've only just gotten back into writing. Had to dig this up from the recesses of my brain (which wasn't pleasant, let me tell you)**

 **I apologize if the quality of this chapter doesn't hold up to the quality of the other two, especially the last few paragraphs, but this was written over the course of a year, so cut me some slack.**

 **Also, I'm not sure if I want to carry this on. It's not that I'm bored or hate it or anything like that, I just don't think I can bring this story to it's full potential. Please leave a review and tell me what you guys think.**

 **The next chapter shouldn't take as long, but I make no promises for I am a terrible human being (I'm sorry please don't hate me :'..**


	4. Lucky probability

**Hey guys. Just popping in before I start to say...I genuinely don't have a clue where to go from here. I should probably take some time to think about it but most of the things I do are spontaneous, so this shouldn't be too bad.**

 **I would also like to say that I would like to try taking requests from you guys. If you like me to write a specific story either leave a suggestion in a review or PM me. Please try to be a bit more specific then "Do a so-and-so story" though.**

 **Also, I'm aware it's been awhile, but screw it ;P.**

 **Enjoy :)  
**

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Hiccup stood at the back of he's form room, listening to Gobber read out the seating plan. He didn't understand why Gobber thought they needed a new seating plan. He didn't understand seating plans at all really. Why put the smarter people at the back? It made no sense to do so. Surely it would make more sense to intersperse everyone, seat the more intelligent people next to the not-so-intelligent people. Not that there was anything he could do about it.

Hiccup tuned out Gobbers voice for a second to think. He's mind drifted to English and his distaste for it. He was currently in set two for English. That may not seem bad, but Hiccup was in top sets for everything else. He just couldn't get around 'subtle connotations'. Why couldn't a rose just be a rose instead of a metaphor for a woman's lust? Why couldn't the dark just be the dark instead of a man's grief or guilt over something that he had no control over yet still feels is he's fault? It just wasn't something Hiccup could get his head around, unlike math and science. Here there were just numbers and equations and the like, just the easy stuff.

Hiccup tuned back into the real world as he heard his name, or rather nickname, being called out. "...Hiccup." He looked at Gobber, who was pointing at a table on the back row. He hadn't heard who he was sat by, but he could see the golden hair, tied back in a braid as always, attached to the body that was sitting at what had been indicated as he's table. _Of course, why not?_ He thought to himself.

He walked over to his indicated table and sat in the empty chair next to the girl who had threatened to destroy him. As he placed he's bag on the table to take out his equipment, he noticed Astrid's head, which had been resting in her arms, shift slightly. Out of habit he glanced out the corner of his eye just in time to see her piercing blue eye widen in what he assumed was a combination of shock and barely contained rage. _Shit!_ He just kept rummaging through his bag, his hands growing increasingly clammy. Once again he saw her move, this time to sit upright. She was still staring at him out of the corner of her eye. After what felt like an eternity, she raised her hand. "What is it Jennifer?" Gobber huffed.

"I was just wondering if it would be possible to change my seat sir." Astrid's voice was steady, so steady Hiccup wondered if he had misread her widened eye as a symptom of rage. "Any particular reason, or are you just trying to make my job just that slight bit more difficult?" Astrid's response was almost instantaneous. "I just prefer being closer to the front of the room." Gobber pinched the bridge of his nose. "Unless there is an acceptable ACADEMIC reason you need to be seated nearer the front, I would be happy to rearrange this new seating arrangement. However your test results from last year were second only to Hiccup's. Now, unless anyone else wishes to be seated elsewhere, a request that from here-forth will be met with an object being thrown at whoever makes it, I would like very much to begin actually teaching now."

Astrid slumped back against the chair with a grunt and promptly crossed her arms. Hiccup re-evaluated his re-evaluation of Astrid's current state; she was definitely angry. Which meant the next 45 minutes of his life was going to be very uncomfortable.

* * *

Hiccup leaned against a wall. He had survived Maths sitting next to a very angry Astrid. He'd thought she was going to tear out his throat when he coughed slightly. After letting out a long sigh of relief, he pulled out his phone. After a few minutes scrolling through Pinterest, he received a text from Jeremy asking him to meet him by the bike sheds. Hiccup, confused, strolled down to the sheds to meet his friend.

'Fishlegs' was very large. Not overweight, not muscular just large. Well, except for his legs. It's not that his legs were short or anything, they were just disproportionate to the rest of his body. The boy was currently scribbling in a well-worn notebook. "Hey Fish. Where you been?" Hiccup said whilst sitting down on the bench next to him. "Hm, what? Oh, right. Well I was working on some new ideas and kinda lost track of time. Here, I wrote some down." He showed Hiccup his notebook, currently a mess of half finished scribbles and shorthand notes, before quickly returning to scribbling in it. "Is that a sketch for a new catapult?" Hiccup inquired, trying to glimpse over his friends broad shoulder. "Yup. An idea I had for a re-usable, hyper elastic polymer, capable of launching objects ten feet further then our previous models." Fishlegs rattled off quickly in a manner that few other people would have been able to understand. "Neat." Was Hiccups response, understanding it entirely.

"What did I miss anyway?" Fishlegs asked, not even looking up. "Well, English was boring, as per usual," "Uh-huh." "Started working on quadratic equations." "Bet that was fun." "Well duh. Also got a new seating plan." "Who am I sat by?" "Uh...Samantha?" "Was that a question?" "I wasn't paying that much attention to where you were gonna sit if I'm being honest." "Well who are you by then?" "I'm by...ummm..." "You must know who you're sat next to, surely." "As-Astrid. I'm sat next to...Astrid..." For the first time, Fishlegs looked up from his sketches. "Wait, Astrid? As in Jennifer Hofferson? As in the girl you've had a crush on since...forever, Astrid?" "No, as in dinner-lady Astrid, yes of course Jennifer 'Astrid' Hofferson." "Wow...You must be feeling really lucky, huh?"

Hiccup sighed. "Not exactly, Fish. It's kind of a long story."

* * *

 **Finally, chapter four is done. I'm sorry if the last bit seems rushed or sub-par, but it is 11:13 PM right now, so cut me a break.**

 **I would really appreciate it if you guys would leave reviews, it let's me know that you guys enjoy reading this, and it motivates me to keep writing, even if it does take awhile for me to finish a chapter.**

 **Gonna be honest, I have no clue where I'm going with this, I'm just going with this. I did have one idea, but I realized (with slight help) that the route I was taking was really predictable and overdone, so I'm gonna think of something new. I'm just gonna upload this now because I just tried to spell 'of' like 'ov' XD.**


	5. A new chapter

**I am A terrible person. Sorry this is so late, I just haven't had many ideas as to where this is going. My original idea seems to be pretty obvious and predictable so I'm gonna make it up as I go, see what I like and what you guys like. Speaking of which, thanks for all the reviews, they are what keep me doing this. They let me know that you guys enjoy this, what you enjoy and what you don't really like, so keep reviewing.**

 **But enough of that, let's get on with it.**

* * *

Astrid sat on a bench in 'the tunnel', an aptly named area that led to two different sections. She had closed her eyes, wanting to be left alone and think. She wasn't thinking about anything in particular, just letting random thoughts drift through her head. A local kickboxing tournament that was coming up, her part time job she was due to start tomorrow, going back home, when she ran into Hiccup this morning.

Astrid mentally scowled at herself. Why would she think of Hiccup? What kind of name was Hiccup anyway? She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. It was bad enough that she had to spend nearly an hour sat next to him almost everyday, now he was even invading her thoughts. Astrid sighed, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. "Well it looks like your day is going well." a familiar voice said. Astrid opened her eyes to see Ruff standing in front of her, smirking. "Watcha' thinkin'?" Ruff asked, settling herself down next to Astrid.

"Oh, nothing much. Just what your brother would look like naked." Astrid said, now smirking herself, knowing exactly what response she was going to get. "Ew, gross. Why would you want to know that?" Ruff made a disgusted face, though she couldn't hold in her laughter. "Hey, you asked what I was thinking. I'm just being honest." Astrid replied, shrugging.

The two made small talk for a few minutes, joking back and forth. "So, I was wondering if you wanted to come back to my place after school." Ruff said suddenly. "I don't know Ruff. I mean, I've got a tournament coming up and..." "Come on, you don't even need to train, I've seen you fight. Just come around for a few hours. We can torture Tuff, and you can get a start on my homework." Astrid rolled her eyes, smirking. "I told you, that race wasn't fair, I fell over." "I thought you said someone knocked you over. Changing your story already Hofferson?" Astrid just huffed. "I do have to admit though, torturing your brother does sound fun." "That's the spirit. So we'll meet up by the gates after final bell." Astrid just nodded back, smiling. Just then the bell rang, signalling the end of break.

"Oh great, that means it's time for geography. My favourite thing." Ruff said sarcastically. "Well, I'll see you later Astrid." Ruff said, waving as she walked away. "Yeah, see you later." Astrid said, getting out her timetable to see where she had to go next.

* * *

Astrid opened the window to her bedroom and poked her head in. It was dark out by the time she realized what the time was and had to sprint out of the Thornton's house with rushed goodbye's, simply saying that she needed to get back. Astrid listened closely for a few minutes. She heard bear-like snores coming from upstairs. _Good, he's already asleep._ She though as she slung her bag into her room and crawled in right behind it.

She stood up and looked around, knowing how lucky she was to be on the ground floor. Her room was rather small, but she didn't really care. It was big enough for everything she needed, like her bed and closet. She also had room for a bookshelf, which held all of her favourite stories, such as Of Mice and Men and all of the Shadowhunter books. There was also a desk pushed up against the wall, with a small chair tucked under it and a laptop resting on top of it. This is where Astrid went first, opening the laptop so she could look at a few things.

She spent a few minutes on YouTube, watching a couple of new videos, before opening a new tab and opening her favourite story on Wattpad. It was titled 'A boy and his dragon' and detailed the story of a young scrawny viking who befriends one of the deadliest known dragons to his dragon hating village. The story wasn't complete, but there were new chapters every month. Astrid saw that there was a new chapter, so opened it. This chapter saw the main female confronting the boy about what he's been up to, and her discovering the dragon. The chapter ended on the girl running back to tell the entire village the boys secret.

Astrid closed the tab and yawned. Looking at the time, she realized that it was almost midnight, so started getting ready for bed. As she lay down, she couldn't help but be excited for her new job. She smiled to herself as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

 **Sorry that this took so long. I just couldn't figure out where I wanted this to go. Also, I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as good as the others, but I am working through writers block. I'm sorry again that this took so long to get out, but as I said I couldn't think of what to write. I will seriously try to get chapters out quicker, but don't be surprised if it takes a while, I am also working on other things.**

 **As always, all reviews and feedback are welcome, it will help me decide where to take this, and also what you think. I am writing this for you guys after all :).**


	6. The dog house

**Hey. Just something that I forgot, some of you may not know the terms that I'm using due to not living in England, so if you don't understand something just ask me what it means and I'll put it in an A/N. For example, a form, which is like a lesson at the start of a school day where you get registered and do an activity, it just allows you to wake up.**

 **Also, I'm hoping to get this out not much later than the last chapter, but we'll see how that goes.**

* * *

Hiccup walked through the front door of the dog shelter. He had been working there for about a year, and really enjoyed it. At first he was bored, and a bit scared due to the fact that the shelter housed more 'viscous' dogs, such as Boxer dogs and Rottweilers. However, he soon learned that they weren't at all what people thought of them. As a matter of fact, he started to look forward to coming here and spending time with them.

"Hey Hiccy, how are ya?" said a voice to Hiccup's left. He turned and saw Rose, the owner of the shelter and one of the only two people Hiccup could call a friend, the other being Fishlegs, although she was now more like an older sister to him. She was 20 years old and had short black hair with a dyed purple streak on the right side. She had kind hazel eyes, and Hiccup had rarely, if ever, seen her without a smile. "How was your first day of school?"

"You know, same old same old, nothing new to talk about." Hiccup replied, walking over to the desk that Rose was stationed behind. "Well, what about that girl you like? Did you see Astrid?" Rose asked with a sly smile. "Well, yeah, actually I did. As a matter of fact, she was on top of me this morning." Hiccup said, without hesitation. Rose's smile grew wider. "Well well, who knew you had it in you." Hiccup's face instantly turned bright red. "What, no, nothing like that. She just ran at me and-" "So she ran at you and jumped on top of you? Well isn't she forward." Rose said, now grinning from ear to ear. "Can you please stop that. Anyway, I'm gonna be seeing a lot more of her. We're sat next to each other in Maths."

Rose leaned back in her chair, her smile shrinking back to her normal friendly one. "Well, that should be interesting." She said, almost to herself. "What was that?" Hiccup asked, not quite hearing what she said. "Oh, nothing. Anyway, you should go and get the food ready. It's almost their dinner time." Hiccup pushed himself off of the desk and started moving to the back room. "Yes boss." He replied in a playful tone. "Oh, and don't forget to mix Roxy's meds in. She's not been looking to good today." Hiccup just nodded in response, already walking into the main part of the building that housed the dogs.

Almost immediately he was greeted by barks and drooling faces from the kennels. "Hey guy's." Hiccup said as he walked down the corridor, glancing back and forth between the kennels, which were large enough to house five or six of the biggest breeds comfortably, all filled with the dogs no one wanted for fear of being mauled or hurt badly. And every one of the dogs were looking at him with dopey smiles, tails wagging uncontrollably. Hiccup shook his head, not understanding what people were so afraid of.

He opened a door at the end of the corridor and walked into a back room, with two smaller kennels set into the right wall, a large table at the back filled with dog bowels, and shelves on the left wall, where all the dog food was kept. Hiccup walked over to the kennel closest to the door and saw two boxer dogs, one the typical brown and white the other pure white, lying next to each other. Hiccup had named the brown one Oscar and the white one Roxy. They had been found together, abandoned on the side of a busy road, Oscar nearly biting 7 people who had tried to retrieve them protecting Roxy, who had been laying on her side panting heavily. When they had been recovered and looked over by a vet, it was discovered that Roxy had cardiomyopathy, an inherited disorder which causes an irregular heart beat. It was assumed that, for that reason, the owner had just decided to abandon her. No one knew anything about Oscar, however, except that he was very protective of Roxy.

Hiccup crouched down in front of the kennel to get a better look at them both. Oscar's head immediately shot up, and he gave a greeting bark. Roxy didn't move at all, which was unusual. Whenever she saw Hiccup she would usually try and jump onto him, but now she just lay there, not even looking at him. Hiccup sighed. "I can see what Rose meant." He stayed like that for a few moments before standing and preparing all of dogs dinners.

* * *

"Come on Hiccup. As much as I love it here, I would like to get back home." Rose called out. Hiccup walked through the door leading to the kennels, making sure to lock it up. "Alright, alright. I was just checking that all the kennels were shut right." Hiccup said, turning to face Rose. She just smiled at him, shaking her head as she opened the door for him. Hiccup walked out and started making his way back to his house when Rose called out to him again. "Hey, I can give you a lift if you want." Hiccup turned and waved his hand. "No thanks, I think I can manage." Rose walked towards him, keys in hand. "Come on. It's getting late." She wasn't wrong, the sun was already dipping below the horizon.

Hiccup sighed. "Ok then, you can give me a lift. Just, can you not play any of your music please." "What's wrong with my music?" Rose questioned in mock offense. "Nothing, I just don't like it is all." Hiccup quickly responded. "It doesn't matter anyhow, my radios busted. Come on." Rose started walking towards her car, a small yellow mini.

As they got in, Hiccup said "Do you think we need any extra help around the shelter? It could help get things done faster." Rose smirked. "I was thinking that myself, so I hired a new employee. They should be starting sometime this week." Hiccup buckled his seat belt. "Oh, that's cool. Hey, you remember where I live right?" "Yeah, course I do."

* * *

Hiccup waved as Rose drove away. As her car disappeared around a corner, he turned and walked through the front door of his house. Rose had made comments before about how this was more of a mansion than a house, however, and she wasn't wrong. With three floors above ground, an attic and a basement, it was almost big enough to house the entire town. Unfortunately, it was on the edge of their town, so he had to go a long way to get something, but that did leave a lot of space for him to test new contraptions with Fishlegs.

Hiccup had lived here his entire life, as long as he could remember anyway. Having a father who owned a major business sure did pay off. Hiccup chuckled to himself at that pun, before calling out. "Hey, dad? You back yet?" He waited for a few seconds before answering his own question. "Nope." Hiccup walked into the spacious living room, contemplating the pros and cons of having a stay-at-work father. He came to the conclusion that it wasn't all that bad. Hey, he had the whole house to himself most of the time.

As he turned on the TV, he picked up a flier which had details of a kickboxing tournament that was scheduled for this weekend. He couldn't remember getting this flier, but thought he might just check out this tournament. Who knew, maybe he would even get to see Astrid there. If he went, that is.

After a few minutes of just mindlessly flicking through channels, occasionally stopping to watch a few seconds of something, he turned of the TV and went up to his bedroom, which was the smallest bedroom. Yet, it was still quite big, large enough to house his entire Math's class. This thought only served to remind him that he was going to be sitting next to Astrid tomorrow. Again. Which he was sure would be just as charming as today's encounter.

* * *

 **I think this is the longest chapter yet. Hope it ins't just rambling.**

 **Tell me what you think of Rose, whether I should make her into more of a main role. And thank you to everyone who follows and favorites and reviews, the make me want to keep doing this. Also, tell me how surprised you are at how it only took two days for me to do the next chapter, cause I surprised myself.**

 **Thanks for reading :)**


	7. A heavy hand

**Hey guys. Sorry for the slightly longer wait this time, but I do plan to keep to a rough weekly schedule. So don't be surprised if I take a year off.**

 **In all seriousness, thank you for the follows, favorites and reviews, they keep me going, and I do read them even if I don't respond, so please don't be put off if I don't reply. If there is something you would like to discuss, like ideas for this or other stories, please PM me and I'll definitely get back to you.**

 **Also, before we start, PE stands for Physical Education, which is basically gym. Just need to point that out.**

* * *

Astrid strolled through the halls on her way to her fourth lesson, Maths. She subconsciously pulled on her right blazer sleeve for the hundredth time, glad that she didn't have PE. She walked through the door to her classroom and sat down at her seat. She saw Gobber typing something on his computer, probably waiting for everyone else to arrive. She took the time to look through some of the homework that she had received, pausing at her physics work. It wasn't that she was terrible at physics or anything like that, it's just that she can't get her head around some of the equation's.

Like on the worksheet she was holding there was a diagram of a car, and it was asking to use the equation shown to work out the speed of the car.

Astrid let out an agitated sigh, not understanding anything on the paper.

"Well, you sound extremely happy today." A sarcastic voice came from her left. She turned and saw Hiccup, placing his bag under his desk as he took his seat. Did he really just say that to her and then act like it was nothing?

"What's that supposed to mean?" She glares at him, almost as if trying to ignite him with her mind.

She can see him visibly tense up, obviously regretting saying anything. "Um, w-what? No-nothing, it's doesn't mean a-anything." He doesn't even look at her when he says that, and she can't decide whether she's happy or angry because of it.

She decides she's the latter.

"Who are you talking to? I'm sat right here." She's noticing that a few people are starting to look over. Why is this such a big deal to them?

He slowly turns his head so that he's looking at her and his mouth moves, but he can't seem to say anything. "You know what, just forget it." She turns her head back to front just as Gobber stands up to begin the lesson. Out of the corner of her eye she can see that he stares at her for a few seconds before turning his head back to the front of the class as well.

Astrid knows that should be it, but can't help but feel like that wasn't enough, like there's something else. She can't help but still be annoyed with him for his sarcastic remark. Who does he think he is.

* * *

Astrid sits on the bench next to Ruff, finishing of her apple. She had just explained to Ruff what just happened. "So, what, you're pissed because he spoke to you?" She knows it's a valid question but scowls all the same.

"No, it's the _way_ he said it, like he thinks he's better then me." She knows it's a childish response.

"To me it just sounds like he was trying to be funny. You obviously don't understand sarcasm."

Astrid tossed her apple core somewhere near the bin and turns to glare at her friend. "I understand sarcasm just fine." She turns back and can see Hiccup, standing there and talking to a bulky kid who she vaguely recognizes as Fishlegs, and for some reason she just feels anger swelling, blood boiling as she hears pounding in her ears.

Before she stands up and storms towards him. He looks up just in time to see her fist flying towards his face. She isn't satisfied when her fist connects with his face, or when he flies backwards, landing with an 'oompf'. She just see's the crimson flood from his nose before his hands fly up to cover his nose.

Astrid takes a second to look around at everyone, their eyes darting between Hiccup and herself, all of them with a common question. _What just happened?_

She stands there for another few seconds, dumbfounded by her own actions, before stalking away to think about what just happened. No one dares to follow her.

* * *

Astrid sits in a small room, waiting for a staff member. She had been caught not long after she had walked away and was asked to fill out forms for her name and what she did and why. It was the why that had stumped her, she couldn't figure out why she had done that.

After what felt like an eternity the headmaster, Jack White, a large man with a big brown beard, walked through the door and sat down opposite Astrid with a disappointed look on his face. It's the same look a father might make after finding out there child had done something wrong.

Astrid leans back in her chair, refusing to dwell on that particular thought. "So can I go back to lesson yet? Or do I have to apologize?" She hated the thought of apologizing.

"Astrid," Mr. White begins with a sigh "you can't apologize to him. He was just taken to the hospital."

"What?" She can't help the twinge of guilt in her stomach.

"He passed out not long after you-the incident occurred. It was discovered that you had broken his nose so we had no choice but to call the paramedics. You could have done some serious damage." He goes silent, allowing that to sink in. "So, we have no choice but to suspend you."

"Suspend me? For how long?"

"You will be allowed back onto school grounds a week from tomorrow. We have already called ahead to let your father know."

Astrid feels the fear pooling in her stomach, making her want to throw up. "No, please. I-It was an accident, I didn't mean t-"

"Astrid!" He cuts her off with a stern tone. "You hospitalized one of our best students without any given reason that we could determine. I'm sorry, but this decision is final."

Astrid opened her mouth to try again, but decided against it. Mr. White Grabs the bridge of his nose, obviously frustrated. "Look, I don't like it either. You are also one of our best students, but we don't have a choice here. I'd honestly be surprised if he doesn't press charges against you." With that Mr. White stood up from his chair. "Your father said you could make your own way home?"

Astrid just nodded, hoping that he couldn't see how afraid she was. With a curt nod, Mr. White left the room. After a few minutes, Astrid got up and followed after him.

* * *

She closed the front door as quietly as possible behind her. She had tried her bedroom window but it was locked from the inside, so she had no choice. She had stood outside for ages, trying to think of somewhere, anywhere else she could go.

But there wasn't.

She wasn't due to start her new job until 5 PM, and she thought going any earlier would arouse suspicion. She looked down at her watch, the glowing numbers displaying 3:03. It would take her half an hour to get there, so that left her an hour and at home.

She could smell the alcohol and knew he must have just been here, but she couldn't see him or hear him anywhere. _Good, he must have run out_ she thought to herself. She walked into her room and threw her bag onto her bed.

As soon as she had fully entered the room, she heard her bedroom door slam shut behind her. She froze, mentally kicking herself for not checking further. She turned her head and saw the looming figure of her father, standing over her, leering.

"So. The school called. Said you've been suspended." She could smell the beer on his breath, hear the slur and see the vacancy in his eyes. She turned to face him, trying to look as strong as possible.

As if that has ever helped before.

"You know what happens when you fuck up?" He asks rhetorically, leaning forward and grabbing her left bicep harder than is necessary. "I have to teach you a lesson."

Almost instantly Astrid's right hand slam's into the man's jaw, hard enough to loosen his grip on his arm. She slips out of his grip and moves around him to door, opening it and almost getting out before she feels him grab her braided hair and pull her back violently, and she can't stop the yelp that escapes her mouth.

He pull her up by her hair so she's looking into his eyes as tears begin to form in hers from the pain. "That's going to cost you." He say's before landing a heavy blow to her gut.

Astrid feels the wind getting knocked out of her as she wheezes and coughs. He lets go of her hair and she falls to the floor in an unceremonious pile. "I know it's your first day at your new job, so I'll avoid anything too obvious." She hears him say before she feels his foot slam into her ribs.

She should fight him back. She should run away. She should turn him in. She should do anything other than lie here and take it.

But she won't.

Because this is what she thinks is normal.

* * *

 **OK...so that happened.**

 **I honestly didn't know that was going to be in the chapter until I just wrote it. Tell me what you guys think about...that anyway. That's still going to be something that happens, but I'd still appreciate your feedback. How do you think I handled it. Clunky? Well implemented** **? Out of left field?**

 **Anyway, thank you guys for reading. I appreciate the support.**


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